LYON, France, October 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today a partnership with Institut Pasteur to develop a vaccine against malaria. Under this collaboration agreement, Sanofi Pasteur will have access to antigens identified by Institut Pasteur derived from Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the most deadly malaria infections. Sanofi Pasteur intends to use these antigens with the goal of developing a safe and efficacious candidate vaccine against malaria.
“Sanofi Pasteur is committed to making malaria a vaccine-preventable disease, ultimately relieving affected populations from this scourge,” said Wayne Pisano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi Pasteur. “Sanofi Pasteur is continuously exploring new paths to develop innovative vaccines and this agreement with Institut Pasteur underlines the company’s historical involvement in public-private partnerships with renowned institutions to help improve public health.”
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 40% of the world’s population, mostly those living in the world’s poorest countries, are at risk of malaria. Every year, more than 500 million people become severely ill with malaria. Of those, more than one million people die every year--mostly infants, young children and pregnant women--the majority of which are in Africa, specifically, sub-Saharan Africa.
“Institut Pasteur has discovered several promising antigens over the last decade that we believe could lead to malaria vaccines to protect children living in endemic regions as well as travellers,” said Pr. Alice Dautry, President of Institut Pasteur. “Teaming with Sanofi Pasteur, a long-standing partner of the institute, increases the potential to reach the shared goal of a malaria vaccine. Through this agreement, Institut Pasteur and Sanofi Pasteur reinforce their collaboration to benefit public health.”
Sanofi Pasteur’s malaria vaccine project is currently in the preclinical phase and is expected to benefit from a network of partnerships.
About sanofi-aventis
sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris and in New York .
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, provided more than a billion doses of vaccine in 2006, making it possible to immunize more than 500 million people across the globe. A world leader in the vaccine industry, Sanofi Pasteur offers the broadest range of vaccines protecting against 20 infectious diseases. The Company’s heritage, to create vaccines that protect life, dates back more than a century. Sanofi Pasteur is the largest company entirely dedicated to vaccines. Every day, the company invests more than EUR1 million in research and development. For more information, please visit: http://www.sanofipasteur.com or http://www.sanofipasteur.us
About Institut Pasteur
Institut Pasteur, a private non-profit foundation, is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diseases through research, education and public health activities. A large part of Institut Pasteur’s research activities are devoted to infectious diseases. Since it was set up, Institut Pasteur has played a major role in combating diseases such as rabies, plague, diphtheria, tetanus, typhus, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and AIDS. Institut Pasteur is the heart of an International Network made up of 30 institutes spread over the five continents. For more information, see http://www.pasteur.fr.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions. Although sanofi-aventis’ management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in sanofi-aventis’ annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other than as required by applicable law, sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
Pascal.barollier@sanofipasteur.comlen.lavenda@sanofipasteur.com
CONTACT: Sanofi Pasteur; Pascal Barollier, Media Relations, Tel :
+33(0)4-37-37-51-41, Pascal.barollier@sanofipasteur.com. Sanofi Pasteur;
Len Lavenda, Media Relations US, Tel: +1-570-839-4446,
len.lavenda@sanofipasteur.com
